The irony of Success Academy winning the Broad Prize for "Public Charter Schools" is indeed rich, but not in the way the Post editorial board sees it.

Public charter school is the ultimate oxymoron. By definition, privately managed and unaccountable charter schools are not public institutions, which, in contrast, are run by democratically elected representatives of the people.

It is the rich who are trying to take over public schools to amass even greater wealth, sharpen class divisions, and attack the foundation of democracy. Broad and Moskowitz can pay empty tributes to each other in a mutual admiration society, but undermining the nation's two largest school districts, New York City and Los Angeles, is a disgrace.

State Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan says he wants more charter schools for the children of Harlem, Brooklyn and the Bronx, yet there are no charters in his Suffolk County district. So why isn't he fighting to take away democratic school governance from his constituents and transfer control of their public schools to private interests?